Poisonous Gold
by FrostofThunder
Summary: Sequel to "Faith In The Deceiver" - It's been a little over a year since the ordeal with Casimir. Taking on the work Tony left behind, Loki is now a member of the Avengers and one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s greatest assets. When the world is faced with a global blackout and Loki's mind is attacked, the Avengers will not only have their loyalty tested, but also their friendship.
1. Prologue

**Prologue **

Lightning lit up the night sky, with its companion thunder following closely behind. The rain hammered down on the skyscrapers of the infamous New York City where, despite the rain, people still went about their business. The Avengers Mansion was in relatively peaceful. A majority of its residents asleep after a long day.

However that peace was abruptly broken.

The fire alarm blared throughout the mansion, jolting awake those who had just been fast asleep.

It took a minute for Steve to take a breath and calm himself, the sudden noise causing him to automatically become defensive. When he took notice of what awoke him, he sighed.

He made his way fast to the workshop, Clint joining him along the way.

"This is the third time this week!" he said as he pulled on a shirt and adjusted his boxers. "Good thing Bruce got those earplugs, I should invest in them."

"I know, I know," Steve said. He glanced at Clint. "Do you sleep naked?" he asked as he entered his code to gain access to the workshop.

"...No..."

Steve gave him a look.

When the doors slide open they were met with black smoke and the sound of Dummy hard at work. They coughed as the smoke hit them.

"Loki?" Steve cried as he waved his hand to clear some of the smoke but to no avail. He heard coughing from inside that progressively got closer.

"Everything's fine! No...no need to worry," said Loki. He soon joined Steve and Clint outside the workshop still coughing, he was covered in foam. The alarm had finally stopped and Steve just eyed Loki up and down, he was a mess.

"Were you on fire?" Clint asked.

Loki pursed his lips and crossed his arms.

"Not as badly as the desk."

Steve sighed again, an action that's becoming too common in his life. "Loki, you can't keep doing this."

"I'm sorry that my work is causing a disturbance and won't let it happen again. Now, if you can excuse me, I must get back to said work."

"Oh, no." Steve said as he grabbed Loki's arm. "You are going to get cleaned up and go to bed. You need rest."

Loki whined but didn't fight as Steve dragged him away from the workshop.

Inside the smoke and foam filled workshop, if one looked close enough, they would be able to see the blood red eyes staring in their direction.


	2. Technical Difficulties

**Chapter 1**

**Technical Difficulties**

Loki tugged his tie off and wrapped it around his hand. He let a heavy sigh as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. He wanted to rip this damn suit off. He jammed his tie into his messenger bag and looked down the track.

"Come on train," he muttered to himself. Loki shuffled in place and closed his eyes. When he opened them the hot air blasted past him as the train finally arrived at the station.

"See. That wasn't too bad."

Loki had completely forgotten that he was with Clint.

"I'm never doing that again," Loki said as he boarded the train and grabbed a pole to hold onto as the train lurched to a start.

Clint shrugged. "Stark Industries belongs to you now, gonna have to show your face every now and then."

"And you? Came to keep an eye on me? Who was it?"

Clint shrugged. "I was bored."

"Who threatened you? Steve? Natasha?"

"Shut up," muttered Clint.

The train ride wasn't long and Loki walked briskly to the Avengers Mansion. Having departed from Clint who needed to head to S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ, he felt relieved to finally be alone. The press conference for Stark Industries was something he never wanted to do again. Ever. He was grateful for Pepper who did all of the talking. Once he walked through the doors of the mansion, he went straight to the workshop.

Thor walked steadily down the steps that led to the workshop. He hasn't seen his brother in a while and after the frantic message from Steve, who ranted about fires and alarms, he made it a point to visit. Even stay if need be. The sound of soft rock and a blow torch met his ears as he made his way in.  
Loki's back was to him, but knowing his brother, he knew he was there.

Thor said in a bombing voice, "I see you cut your hair."

The music died down and Loki cut off the blow torch. He turned in his seat and raised his goggles, placing a hand on his now bare neck and smiled.

"Sort of set it on fire a few days ago."

"How'd you manage that?" Thor asked as he walked towards Loki.

"I may have turned my back when sparks were flying. What do I owe this visit?"

Thor looked Loki up and down. He looked tired with shadows under his eyes, but he looked...happy. With all he's been through he looks like he finally feels in place. Somewhere he possibly belongs. Thor hates that he's here to rip him away from that.

"Just wanted to visit my brother," Thor shrugged.

Loki smiled. "You should leave the lying to me."

"It's not an entire lie."

"Steve?"

"Yeah."

"He needs to find a girlfriend or something." Loki said as he began straightening up his desk.

Thor watched his brother. His brother. He could finally call him that without Loki denying it with the venom that used to lace his every word.

"I'm worried about you," Thor blurted out.

Loki stopped what he was doing but didn't turn. The arc reactor was in his grasp and he studied it, allowing its glow to warm him face. "Surprisingly, a lot of people are, despite, you know...everything."

"You have friends now Loki."

"Friends..." The word felt foreign on his mouth.

"Sir, Agent Coulson is on the line requesting you at S.H.I.E.L.D HQ. He says it's urgent."

"Tell him I'm on my way."

Loki turned to a smiling Thor. Words didn't need to be spoken to know what he was thinking.

"Shut up."

Thor's bellowing laugh filled the workshop as Loki kicked him out.

Loki was rubbing his head as the elevator doors opened.

"My, my look at you," a voice said as he gave up trying to sooth the coming headache. He looked up as saw Clint holding the doors open. A smile on his face like he just learned a spicy secret. He knew exactly what Clint was talking about.

His outfit.

Rephrase.

His S.H.I.E.L.D. outfit.

"Last I checked you wear one too," he said as he walked into the elevator and they began to head up.

"Yeah, but mine is personalized. You're wearing what the average S.H.I.E.L.D. agents wear. Basically Hill's uniform, just made for a man."

Loki's raised an eyebrow. "Maria Hill, an average agent?"

Clint's smile slowly disappeared and silence filled the elevator.

"I'm sorry," Clint quickly said as the elevator doors opened.

"Thought you were." Loki grinned as he stepped off and made his way down the hall, Clint trailing behind him. "Following me Agent Barton?"

"Just going the same way you are, Agent."

They walked together in silence the rest of the way to the Central room of Headquarters. It wasn't much different from the control room on the Helicarrier, it was lanced with computers and was always busy with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents running around. Loki looked around, glancing out the window at the night sky, a full moon shining bright. He hadn't realized it had gotten so late. Time had become foreign to him in the past year.

"Ah, Loki," he heard as he turned away from the illuminated city. Coulson walked up to him, a file in hand. "Barton, I need you to go over these," he handed the folder to Clint, who took it eagerly, then turned to Loki. "We have an issue with the security," Coulson said as he motioned for Loki to follow him. "Someone tried to hack us."

"Did they get anything?" Loki asked. For someone to be able to get through Tony's security, they know what they were doing.

"That's the thing, no files were accessed, deleted, copied, or anything." Coulson stopped in front of the main computer and Loki took a seat and signed in.

"So what did they want?"

"That's what Fury wants you to find out."

Coulson watched as Loki accessed...whatever. He knew enough about the basics of computers, but anything Tony designed was beyond him. He was still amazed that Loki had learned so much. He practically absorbed all of Tony's knowledge and then some.

The lights suddenly dimmed for a moment causing everyone to slow down just for a second.

"Was that a power surge?" Clint asked as he walked up next to Coulson.

"We don't get power surges." Coulson said as he looked up at the lights worriedly.

"Loki?" Coulson heard Clint say. He turned back to Loki who had stopped typing. His hands were resting on the keyboard, completely still.

"I...My hand. I can't move it," Loki murmured, his voice quiet, laced with either a trace of confusion or fear.

"What? What do you mean?" Coulson asked.

Loki placed his right hand over his left. "It just...I lost all sensation in my left arm."

He groaned as a sudden pain surged through his head and he leaned forward.

"Whoa," Clint said and before Loki could ask what, he felt the other man's hand on the back of his neck. "Loki do you remember getting bit by anything?"

Loki tried to remember but everything went silent.

And dark.

Loki wasn't sure if he went blind and deaf, but a cold sweat began to take its place on his body.

His head was buzzing and he couldn't understand any of the yelling that was going on, he lifted his head and looked out the window, the soft yellow glow from the lights were gone.

It wasn't just S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ that lost power.

It was the entire city of Manhattan.

However, Loki felt it was more then that.


	3. Questions

**Chapter 2**

**Questions**

_His hands traced his body._

_Their body heat mingled as they were pressed up against another._

_He felt as if he could engulf the other man, for he was small._

_Well, small compared to him._

Loki opened his eyes to find himself lying in the medical bay surrounded by candles, his head pulsing in a bearable but nudging pain.

Clint sat at the end of the bed, with the file Coulson had given him still in his hands.

"Isn't this a hazard?" Loki mumbled as he sat up slowly.

Clint looked towards him. "Rise and shine Sleeping Beauty."

"That file," Loki's voice was tired. "May I ask what it is?"

Clint flipped the file close and placed it on the table across the bed. His weight lifted as he came up beside Loki.

"Let's talk about you first."

"Oh, where do we begin?" he gave a sly smile. The lack of even a hint of a smile on Clint's face made him groan. He flexed his previously limp arm. "I can move my arm and my head is but a dull ache."

"What about the bite?"

Loki went to feel the back of his neck. He hadn't felt anything previous and he sure as hell doesn't remember getting bitten. However, he can feel the swell of his skin, but it didn't hurt.

"Don't remember ever getting bit, what does look like?"

Clint came in close, the dull light making it hard to see. Loki could feel the heat of his breath on the back of his neck.

"Small, looks like two punctures. Spider maybe? Hey, maybe you'll be swinging with Spider-Man come dawn."

"Ha-ha," Loki let out sarcastically. "What time is it anyway?"

"About four in the morning." They sat in silence. The candles flickered around them filling the air with their various scents. It was a scene Loki would have found most relaxing with a good book if the circumstances were different. Clint retook his seat at the end of the bed, his hand rested over the file which he had successfully diverted Loki's attention from before. He decided it could wait. There appeared to be a bigger picture here.

"What happened exactly?" Loki asked. Clint turned to him.

"A blackout. A huge, wide-scale, blackout." Loki could see something in his eyes that he's only seen once before, uncertainty, maybe a hint of...fear.

"How big are we talking?"

"As of right now, the entire country."

Loki felt like he might let out a fanatic laugh but was able to keep himself in check.

"How can an entire country blackout? Don't you have backup generators; isn't the power run all separately or something?" Loki knew much about this planet, but there was still a lot he did not know. Such as how they ran their power sources.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.s generator went offline." Loki looked up towards Clint. Then it clicked.

"The hacker." Clint nodded.

"I need to get to Stark Tower."

The streets were still quiet considering people haven't woken up yet to find the power gone. There were reports of a few accidents and cars were moving slow due to the lack of traffic lights. Police were scattered about the city trying to keep the traffic flowing as best they could. Loki and Clint made it to Stark Tower with no trouble, getting out of S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ was more of a hassle. Coulson didn't want them to leave until the generator was up and they had some idea about what was going on. In the lobby of Stark Tower, Clint was looking up at the elevator.

"So, what floor?"

"Bottom floor," Loki said as he led the way to the stairs. Clint followed and looked around the abandoned lobby. They made their way down slowly, Loki guiding the way with a small, green fire to provide as light.

"Where are we going?" Clint finally asked, the silence beginning to eat away at him. They stopped outside of a single door which Loki laid his hand upon. Clint figured he unlocked it since the next thing he knew he was walking inside.

"We're going to get some power."

Clint looked up at the very thing that had kept Tony alive.

Except ten times bigger.

The arc reactor.

"If Stark Tower runs on self-sustaining energy, why did it go off with the rest of the city?"

Loki turned away and bent down to retrieve a laptop and a wire he connected to the reactor.

"It wasn't on."

"Why?" Clint asked reflexively.

Loki stared at the screen of the laptop as it began to boot up. Clint turned when Loki didn't give a reply.

"I miss him." Was all he said. Clint hung his head and sighed.

The arc reactor came to life and lit up the tower. The sun was rising as Loki and Clint made their way back S.H.I.E.L.D. Loki informed Coulson that he could move there and use the resources until they figured out what was going on. It was madness as people scrambled to get what they needed for the move.

Loki needed to get out of here. So he set a goal for himself, something he should've done a long time ago. He headed to the lockers and changed out of his uniform into a black shirt and a pair of jeans with hiking boots. He grabbed his leather jacket and headed out.

"Where are you going?" said the man that barricaded the doorway.

"To find someone," Loki said. "Now if you don't mind Captain, please move."

Steve just shook his head slowly. "Don't Loki. We're going to need you here."

Loki brought his hand to his head, he felt a headache brewing. "S.H.I.E.L.D. can handle it."

"He doesn't want to be found Loki," Steve argued as Loki shoved past him. Loki ignored him and kept walking.

"Loki!" Steve grabbed his arm and yanked Loki to a stop. "This morning you were paralyzed, just because you're feeling better now doesn't mean you are."

"I don't need you babying me. I can take care of myself!"

"Can you?"

Loki glared at Steve.

"Whatever you're implying," Loki pulled his arm out of the Captain's grasp. "I don't give a shit. I'm going to find Bruce and you can't stop me."

He turned and walked away, not giving Steve another second of his time.


End file.
